When people think about the COVID-19 pandemic, the word unprecedented comes to mind most often. While this certainly is an unprecedented time we’re living in, a word we should be using more is adaptability. If we take a step back right now, it’s quite impressive to see how quickly health care providers, governments, businesses, and consumers have adapted to this new and challenging landscape we are facing. We’ve been quick to adapt to the changes caused by our social distancing efforts and consumer habits have changed drastically. Some experts are estimating consumer habits will remain forever changed. Let’s dive deeper into these predictions.

Some Industries are Thriving

Some industries are taking a huge hit right now, such as travel
and in-person entertainment, but others are thriving. Many of the businesses
that were on the rise before are the ones that are holding strong during the
pandemic. Food delivery services, online shopping, and streaming entertainment
platforms are continuing to provide their convenient services right now. If
someone didn’t appreciate these businesses in the past, they are likely to see
the appeal now.Nielsen found that staying home can lead to an almost 60%
increase in how much content consumers watch, which in theory will increase the
demand for access to more content with consumers taking advantage of different
streaming services.

Businesses that rely on subscription models, particularly
entertainment services, will likely see the largest impact post-pandemic as
they may retain their subscribers even once life goes back to normal. Gaining a
new customer is typicallyfive times more expensive than retaining a current customer, which means that
subscription model based businesses that fill toiletry, video game, television,
or food needs may see a strong business boost from social distancing.

Why Customer Experience Matters More Than Ever

While some businesses may be profiting off our current
predicament, others are struggling alongside their consumers. How brands treat
their customers during this difficult time will likely have a lasting impact on
how consumers interact with them in the future. Airlines for one are suffering
massive financial losses right now, but so are their customers. Air travel is
notorious for having limited cancellation policies and poor customer service,
which consumers are tolerating less and less when they feel their health and
financial wellbeing is at risk. The airlines that have a compassionate customer
experience right now will be more likely to build trust with their customers
and have them willing to come back once normal travel resumes.

A Global Shift

One way to ensure a positive customer experience, is by making
connecting with consumers easier on a global scale. The sharing of information
is more important than ever before and through the use of proper translation
and localization efforts, you can build trust with your consumers as well as
service them in the best possible way.

From a user experience perspective, the entertainment and tech
industries in particular could benefit from increased efforts to translate and
localize movie and televisionsubtitles, video games,
and apps. Many people are turning to self-improvement efforts to pass the time
right now, so e-learning course creators may find that adapting their courses to serve multiple
languages can increase their potential customer base.

Many businesses can benefit from professional translation
services, whether they make their manuals,instructions for use, orwebinars more widely available. No matter what industry you
work in, we can all agree that bringing more people closer together sounds
pretty good right about now.